Chapter 1 The Death Energy

Death energy ravaged the fleet, corroding through shields and tearing apart armor plating. Explosions blossomed like fireworks in space, and Hela's figure darted through the chaos.

Countless of Gorutan's subordinates were killed by a mixture of physical and spiritual attacks. Death energy stole their life force, replenishing Hela's health, and absorbed the fragments of the dead souls, enhancing her Esper strength.

Caught in the assault, the fleet panicked for a moment, hastily launching a counterattack. The ship cannons fired in a concentrated barrage, but most of the shots were dodged or blocked by the death energy shield. Only a small fraction managed to inflict damage on Hela.

However, with Hela's efficient vampiric ability, the injuries healed almost instantly.

Gorutan's eyes seemed to burn with fire. Enraged, he abruptly increased his speed, breaking through the churning death energy around Hela in an instant. He closed in on her main body, this time holding nothing back. His fists and feet, filled with killing intent, created countless afterimages, raining down blows on Hela like a storm.

Bang, bang, bang!

Rings of energy ripples exploded outward as the force of his punches shattered Hela's internal organs and bones. The might of a Peak Beyond Grade A martial artist's furious strike threatened to turn her into a pile of minced meat.

However, Hela, having received a large amount of blood feedback, had her endurance boosted several levels. Her health plummeted and surged again and again, barely holding on.

Hela constantly dodged and defended, not forgetting to counterattack repeatedly, even trading injuries for injuries in a display of extreme ferocity.

"You're courting death!"

Gorutan was consumed with rage. While beating Hela, he glared back at the Black Star Army fleet not far away with murderous intent.

Hela dared to slaughter his subordinates to vent her anger. He could retaliate against the Black Star Army in the same way, hurting each other.

But at that moment, Gorutan's eyes narrowed. He saw a mechanical army flying out from the Black Star Army fleet, blocking the way. The leader emitted an astonishing energy fluctuation – it was the Black Star's Sovereign's Avatar, accompanying the fleet.

Han Xiao's mechanical troops stood by without moving, with no intention of rescuing Hela. Gorutan knew that if he attacked the army fleet, he would be in a two-on-one situation.

"I'm only one person, and I can't split myself. If I attack the Black Star Army fleet, I'll have to face Black Star and be held back by him, leaving Hela free to slaughter my subordinates."

The thought flashed through his mind, and Gorutan abandoned the idea of turning to attack the fleet, feeling even more annoyed.

Was he, a dignified Peak Beyond Grade A, being treated like a sparring partner?

Black Star, don't think I won't kill your officers!

Fine! Since you won't interfere, I'll beat your vice-commander to death right in front of you!

From the moment Hela slaughtered his subordinates, the level of conflict escalated. Gorutan no longer entertained the idea of a mere probing match but was intent on killing… Black Star was not to be trifled with? So what! They were both Peak Beyond Grade As. Did he think he was afraid of him? He had a temper too!

Gorutan intensified his attacks, turning his anger into destructive force and unleashing it all on the opponent in front of him.

A furious assault meant openings were likely to appear. Hela's body was spattered with blood, but she ignored the pain, maintaining her composure as she watched the death energy on Gorutan grow increasingly intense. Her eyes flashed.

Suddenly, Gorutan's fist, swirling with violent energy, struck out with a roar, using a skill that amplified its power. Space seemed to warp around the fist as the epicenter.

Whoosh!

The fist passed through Hela's chest, as if piercing her through. The force of the punch blasted out, parting the red ocean of death energy.

However, Gorutan's eyes narrowed. He didn't feel like he had hit a solid object.

The next moment, Hela's body suddenly turned into a mass of death energy, entangling Gorutan's arm. In the distance, within the ocean of death energy, a human-shaped mass of energy rose, quickly transforming and solidifying into Hela's real body.

[Netherworld Stealth]!

Hela could partially transform her body into energy, teleporting within areas covered by death energy. The cooldown time was not short, and this was one of her few movement skills.

Gorutan frowned. After beating her for so long, he had thought Hela had no evasion abilities.

Just as he was about to continue the pursuit, Gorutan felt his fist grow heavy. The energy remnants that Hela had left behind when she teleported wrapped around his palm, releasing a tremendous suction force, pulling his arm downward as if trying to drag him into the ocean of death energy beneath his feet.

At the same time, the number of stacks of [Death Erosion] on Gorutan's body suddenly soared from 10 to the maximum of 15!

[Reaper's Beckoning]!

Hela's method of stacking [Death Erosion] was of course not limited to ordinary attacks. She possessed skills that could instantly stack multiple marks, and this was one of them, a semi-control skill that, if successfully applied, could grant the target 5 stacks of [Death Erosion].

She had been hiding the skill, waiting for a sudden attack to stack the marks on Gorutan's body, detonating the 15 stacks of [Reaper's Scythe] before he could dispel the negative status.

Attacking Gorutan's fleet served two purposes: one was to absorb blood and choose a battlefield that favored her, increasing her endurance; the second was to attract aggro.

In her view, only by turning herself into bait and provoking Gorutan's anger could she create an opportunity for him to reveal an opening. As long as he let his emotions get the better of him and intensified his attacks, he would reduce his defensive efforts.

Hela's eyes were calm. The moment the skill took effect, she did not give Gorutan time to react, seamlessly connecting with [Reaper's Scythe] to detonate the 15 stacks of marks.

Boom!

A dazzling red light erupted from Gorutan's body!

Hela seized the opportunity to retreat, creating distance.

However, in the next instant, a beam of deep brown martial arts energy shot out from the red light, evaporating the death energy in its path and directly hitting Hela, propelling her straight toward Philli Star.

The brown ray pierced through Philli Star, like a toothpick through an orange.

But in the next second, the hole appeared on both sides of the planet, expanding rapidly, revealing the blazing red light of the star's core.

Buzz!

In an instant, all that remained in front of everyone's eyes was a blinding white light. They subconsciously closed their eyes. If the ship's portholes didn't have the function to adjust the spectrum and brightness, this level of light would have been enough to burn the eyes of many people present.

"Warning! Warning! Energy burst reaction detected! Burst level: planetary annihilation!"

Piercing alarms sounded on every ship. By the time everyone reopened their eyes, the massive planet had disappeared without a trace.

Only a few drifting specks of dust remained in its place. The entire planet had collapsed and annihilated, countless substances evaporated, and Hela was nowhere to be seen.

At this time, the death energy released by Reaper's Scythe quickly dissipated, revealing Gorutan's figure. He had many corrosive wounds, which were slowly scabbing and healing.

His level was too high for the instant-kill effect to succeed, but it still evaporated 20% of his health with one blow!

Since reaching Peak Beyond Grade A, Gorutan had rarely suffered such serious injuries. In his expectations, dealing with Hela, a newly advanced Beyond Grade A, should have been easy. He never thought he would suffer such a loss.

In a fit of rage, Gorutan boldly used one of his trump cards, a unique skill from his self-created martial arts school, Beast Ancestor Style: Light of Penetrating Annihilation. This was not merely a simple martial arts energy wave; it also contained an understanding of the universe's laws gained through his body.

It looked like a martial arts energy ray, but it stirred up the energy of the surrounding space, creating terrifying radiation energy that multiplied its power. Striking the star's core would cause a chain collapse, completing the annihilation of the planet. Its destructive power against living organisms was equally terrifying.

Hela's health had not been full to begin with, and with one strike, she seemed to have been vaporized and killed instantly.

Gorutan's murderous gaze turned to Black Star in the distance. His aura gradually rose.

He had killed the other party's vice-commander in front of Black Star. He didn't think Black Star would remain unmoved and had prepared himself to face a strong enemy.

However, to his surprise, Han Xiao's mechanical troops did not rush forward to avenge Hela as he had expected. Instead, they turned and went to the area where the planet's wreckage was.

Just as he was puzzled, a gray light lit up in the wreckage of Philli Star. Wisps of faint gray energy gathered, forming a whirlwind. Hela's spiritual body was faintly visible within it, drawing Gorutan's attention.

The next moment, Hela's body was reorganized in the whirlwind. Death energy draped over her body like a robe, concealing her figure and revealing only her face, which looked slightly pale.

A mechanical soldier tossed out an army emblem. Hela casually caught it and activated it. Countless nanoparticles flowed out of it, turning into a new "Crimson Serpent – Prototype" battle suit, which automatically clad her body. Immediately afterward, the Aurora potion built into the battle suit was injected into her body. Hela's depressed state from her near-death experience rapidly improved. Her complexion turned rosy, and her health and energy were restored to more than half.

"Not dead?!" Gorutan's eyes narrowed, and his expression darkened.

It would have been one thing if he hadn't wanted to kill Hela, but he had used a killing move, and Hela was still alive. This made Gorutan feel completely different, and he was immediately unhappy.

But Black Star had already intervened, and it was useless to pursue her now. Gorutan frowned, had the fleet regrouped, and stayed in place to recover – in his opinion, since Hela was not dead, Black Star would definitely give him an explanation.

On the other side, Hela flew back to the Sovereign's Avatar. Han Xiao turned his head and glanced at her, a half-smile on his face. "How was it? Want to keep getting beaten?"

"I can't beat him, but I did do some damage to him."

Hela shook her head, feeling quite rewarded. She had accumulated more experience and lessons from fighting a Beyond Grade A, and she had also harvested a lot of the opponent's troops, slightly improving her Esper strength.

In particular, several Calamity Grade officers had died at her hands, providing her with a considerable boost that was far superior to slaughtering wild beasts during her past experiences.

As she spoke, Hela paused, her tone unusually hesitant. "This time… I caused you trouble, didn't I?"

In order to reverse her decline, she had attacked the opponent's fleet. This kind of combat method was too easy to make enemies, and she had probably forged a deeper hatred with Gorutan.

Of course, Hela had no apologies for Gorutan. As long as she entered a battle state, the lives of enemies were nothing more than walking health packs in her eyes. She only felt apologetic toward Han Xiao.

'My personality seems to make it easy to make enemies. Perhaps staying in the Black Star Army is a mistake, and it will cause him trouble…'

Hela couldn't help but have this thought flash through her mind, and she pursed her lips.

She was still the death goddess from her previous life who treated human lives like grass. Disregard for life was a character trait carved into her bones… or perhaps it was a characteristic brought about by her Esper ability. The only thing better than her previous life was that she no longer indiscriminately killed ordinary people. Her ruthlessness was only directed at her enemies.

Han Xiao knew that Hela was not good at socializing, was straightforward, and recklessly acted. There was no point in expecting her to hold back.

"We'll talk about those when we get back." Han Xiao shook his head, his tone unquestionable. "You get on the ship first. I'll take care of the rest."

Hearing this, Hela opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she silently nodded and boarded the ship.

Han Xiao then controlled the Sovereign's Avatar, slowly approaching Gorutan's troops.

Arriving in the middle of the area, the mechanical troops threw out compression orbs, forming a small floating space base with an area of only about a thousand square meters. The base's door was wide open, and Han Xiao waved at Gorutan, making an inviting gesture.

Gorutan narrowed his eyes and flew into the base. The interior of the base was filled with air, and in the center was a long table with a seat at each end.

Han Xiao sat at one end, nodding to Gorutan.

"Please, take a seat."

Gorutan plopped down and snorted coldly. "Black Star, your vice-commander is really audacious. I've never seen a newly promoted Beyond Grade A so eager to die. Does she think she can do whatever she wants because she has you as her backer?"

"Hehe, what are you saying? She's always been bold. It has nothing to do with me." Han Xiao shook his head.

"I won't waste words with you either." Gorutan waved his hand. "For your sake, I won't take her life. But she slaughtered my descendants. This debt needs to be settled. Tell me, how should this be resolved?"

"I think it's very simple." Han Xiao controlled the Sovereign's Avatar, touching his metal chin. "You withdraw your troops, and I won't pursue the matter. How about that?"

"What did you say?! Say that again if you have the guts!" Gorutan's eyes widened, and his martial arts energy surged.

"Don't get excited, don't get excited."

Han Xiao raised his hand and pressed down, calmly saying, "I'm thinking that Hela didn't agree to a one-on-one fight with you, so who's to blame? And I'm sure you've noticed, she didn't attack your fleet to vent her anger, but only to use her own abilities and create a favorable environment for herself. After all, she's not your opponent, so she naturally needs to use the battlefield conditions… And in my opinion, it's obviously you and your fleet ganging up on her alone, isn't that even more excessive?"

"…I haven't had much contact with you before. Sure enough, hearing about someone is not as good as meeting them. You're just as shameless as the rumors say." Gorutan sneered.

"Is that so?" Han Xiao tsked. "Is it honorable for a Peak Beyond Grade A to bully a newly promoted Beyond Grade A? You and I have no past grudges, yet you took the initiative to provoke my people and bully my vice-commander. Of course, she's no match for you in a one-on-one fight, but you don't allow her to choose a battlefield that's advantageous to her. It's clear that you're trying to bully my people. And you still have the nerve to talk?"

Gorutan was momentarily speechless. He said in a deep voice, "In any case, many of my subordinates are my descendants. Quite a few carefully nurtured Calamity Grade officers died at her hands. She attacked my fleet first. She started this. It can't be settled just like that!"

Han Xiao smiled. "Weren't you the one who took the initiative to provoke us? How did it become our fault? Also, you took the initiative to cause trouble for me, and now you're complaining that my people attacked too harshly. I think you're even more shameless than me."

Bang!

Gorutan slammed the table and stood up abruptly, filled with anger.

"Black Star, watch your attitude!"

"Alright, alright, let's say you're right. Then what do you want me to do?" Han Xiao spread his hands.

Gorutan said coldly, "Of course it's compensation! I won't force your subordinates to pay with their lives. I want you to compensate for my losses. Also, have Hela apologize and make amends to me."

"Hmm, very reasonable requests." Han Xiao smiled. "But I refuse."

"Black Star!!"

Gorutan was consumed with anger. He slammed his palm on the table, shattering it, and roared in a deep voice, "Do you really want to become enemies with me?!"

At this time, Han Xiao's tone turned cold. "Do you think you're the only one who's angry? You bullied my old friend and even tried to poach my subordinates. I haven't even settled that debt with you yet! Also… what makes you think I can't afford to offend you?"

The Sovereign's Avatar slowly rose into the air, floating in front of Gorutan. The two were at eye level, their gazes colliding, as if sparks could fly. Their auras rose steadily, clashing head-on. Lightning mixed with a gale of wind echoed through the narrow space.

Staring directly into Gorutan's eyes, Han Xiao slowly said, "My people are not for you to command!"

With that, he raised his hand and tapped Gorutan's chest, not backing down, and spoke in a resolute tone.

"One after another, you all want to test me every day. Do you really think I have no temper? I will kill your people! You want to play? I'll play with you to the end! Can you afford to play?!"